The present invention relates to safety apparatus for preventing workmen, equipment and supplies from falling off a roof during construction. More particularly, the invention relates to a supporting frame for a roof safety barrier which is readily adapted for installation on roofs having a wide range of pitches.
Workers engaged in construction activity on rooftops, particularly rooftops having a significant pitch, risk serious injury from falling. Workmen and other persons passing below construction sites are also subject to injury as a result of being struck by unsecured tools or construction materials falling from rooftops under construction. In recognition of such problems, state and federal regulations frequently require roofers to install safety barriers.
It is necessary for roof safety barriers to be sufficiently supported to resist the dynamic impact of a heavy falling object or a falling workman. Safety barriers should also be reusable, easy to install and remove, and easily transported to the job sites. Finally, such barriers should be adjustable so as to be readily adapted to various roof pitches.
Typically, roof safety barriers are constructed of wooden planks supported horizontally by a series of upright stanchions spaced at intervals along the edge of a roof. To accommodate various roof pitches, prior art barriers, as shown in Kettelkamp, Sr., et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,666,131, and Probst, U.S. Pat. No. 3,901,481, employ adjustable connections between the stanchion and a supporting base secured to the roof so that the angle between the stanchion and the base can be adjusted according to the pitch of the roof. However, the adjustable barriers referred to above cannot withstand the dynamic impact of a heavy falling object or falling workman because their adjustable angle requires a cantilever style, stanchion-to-base interface which enables the stanchion to impose far too much leverage on the base when the barrier experiences an impact. A heavy impact can therefore disconnect the base from the roof, defeating the safety feature. Brueske U.S. Pat. No 3,880,405, shows diagonal bracing extending directly between the stanchion and the roof, which provides greatly improved impact resistance. However such structures require multiple connections to the roof, which interfere with roof surfacing operations such as shingling and provide no angle adjustability for accommodating roofs of widely varying pitch.
Moreover, none of the prior structures provides a barrier mountable along an overhanging, sloping roof eave capable of drawing its support primarily from a vertical wall beneath the overhanging eave.